Ocean

Find out everything there is to know about the ocean and stay updated on the latest oceanic news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and beautiful images of the ocean at LiveScience.com. Learn more about the Earth's oceans as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries about our largest bodies of water.

Related Topics: Sharks, Whales, Jellyfish, Global Warming

Latest Updates

The images show the impressions of a collapsed cell-wall covering (a coccosphere) on the surface of a fragment of ancient organic matter (left) with the individual plates (coccoliths) enlarged to show the exquisite preservation of sub-micron-scale structures (right). The blue image is inverted to give a virtual fossil cast, (i.e., to show the original three-dimensional form). The original plates have been removed from the sediment by dissolution, leaving behind only the ghost imprints.

'Ghost' fossils preserve haunting record of ancient life on a hellish Earth

By Joanna Thompson published

Ghostly imprints of very tiny "nannofossils" can offer a valuable window into our planet's past — and hint at its possible future.

Giant squids live in the deep ocean, and rarely wash up on beaches.

Giant squid that washed up on a South African beach was 'incredible to see'

By Joanna Thompson published

Residents of Kommetjie, South Africa were treated to a rare sight this weekend: a giant squid measuring 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) long.

A 65-foot (9 meter) long sperm whale stranded on a mud flat near Ningbo, China, was towed back to sea last week.

Enormous beached sperm whale rescued in China. Will it survive?

By Stephanie Pappas published

A stranded sperm whale was still alive when it was found washed ashore near Ningbo, China. A team of rescuers worked around the clock to tow the animal back to sea.

A satellite image of massive 7-story waves crashing into the Portuguese coast near Nazaré on Oct. 29 2020.

Stunning satellite image shows immense power of monster 7-story waves in Portugal

By Harry Baker published

An 18-year-old surfer rode a record-breaking 101-foot-wave on the day this image was taken.

A recent slowdown in the melting of Iceland’s glaciers is likely caused by a patch of unusually cold water in the North Atlantic Ocean, known as the "Blue Blob," "according to a new study.

Unusually cold 'Blue Blob' is slowing the rapid melting of Iceland's glaciers, but not for long

By Harry Baker published

A new study into a cold patch of the Arctic, known as the "Blue Blob," has shown that it is slowing the rate Iceland's glaciers are melting, but only for a few more decades.

A simulation of the rogue wave based off movement from a monitoring buoy.

4-story rogue wave that randomly appeared in the Pacific Ocean is the 'most extreme' ever detected

By Harry Baker published

Scientists have confirmed that a 58-foot rogue wave detected by a monitoring buoy off the coast of Canada in 2020 is the 'most extreme' ever recorded.

Gorgonians and black corals 6430 feet (1960 meters) deep in the Atlantic Ocean.

The deep seafloor is filled with entire branches of life yet to be discovered

By Patrick Pester published

The ocean floor is filled with undiscovered evolutionary lineages that help to regulate Earth's climate, a new global study of DNA in deep-ocean sediments finds.

The newly discovered branched sea worm Ramisyllis kingghidorahi. In this image, worms single head (left) and asymmetrical posterior branches (right) are clearly visible.

Bizarre sea worm with regenerative butts named after Godzilla's monstrous nemesis

By Harry Baker published

Researchers have discovered a new species of branched sea worm in Japan and named it after the villainous kaiju King Ghidorah.

A dvier from the 1 Ocean project surveys the rose-shaped corals on the newly discovered reef in Tahiti.

Massive 'pristine' reef of giant rose-shaped corals discovered lurking unusually deep off the coast of Tahiti

By Harry Baker published

Divers with UNESCO have discovered and mapped out a massive and unusually pristine reef of rose-shaped corals in Tahiti.

A bigfin squid that study co-author Alan Jamieson observed more than 16,000 feet underwater in 2014. Jamieson and his colleagues found the same species swimming thousands of feet deeper in 2021.

World's deepest-dwelling squid spotted 20,000 feet under the sea

By Brandon Specktor published

Scientists spotted the world's deepest-dwelling squid 20,000 feet below the Philippine Sea while hunting for a lost WWII battleship.

The mysteries red jelly may be a new species previously unknown to science, NOAA researchers say.

10 weird creatures found in the deep sea in 2021

By Harry Baker published

A list of the 10 best stories about weird deep-sea creatures published in 2021.

Researchers pinpoint the mammoth tusk on the ocean floor

Exquisitely-preserved mammoth tusk found 10,000 feet underwater

By Joanna Thompson published

Researchers discovered the 100,000 year old tusk of a mammoth off the coast of California

Octopuses are one of several marine invertebrates to be recognized as sentient by changes to a new animal welfare bill.

Octopuses, squids and lobsters could become 'sentient beings' in the UK

By Harry Baker published

The U.K. government has included cephalopods and some crustaceans in a new bill that recognizes sentient animals.

surgical mask floating in ocean water

28,000 tons of COVID-19 waste now swirling around in our oceans

By Nicoletta Lanese published

The pandemic intensified "pressure on this already out-of-control problem."

Photograph of submariners standing on top of the Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut in the water at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, Washington, May 7, 2018.

Nuclear-powered US submarine collided with a hidden underwater mountain, Navy reveals

By Harry Baker published

An investigation into a recent collision involving a nuclear-powered U.S. submarine has revealed it hit an unmapped seamount in the South China Sea.

Microscopy images showing the mysterious Kölliker’s organs extending and blooming from a young octopus' arm

Baby octopuses grow hundreds of temporary organs, then lose them without a trace

By Brandon Specktor published

Hatchling octopuses are born with tiny, temporary organs that look like microscopic brooms. Researchers may finally have an idea what they do.

A picture of an orca looking out of the water at sunset, off Kaldfjorden in Norway

5 gruesome killer whale attacks

By Stephanie Pappas published

Killer whales hunt in packs, play with their food and sometimes commit murder.

The massive coral colony "Muga ghambi" is one of the largest and oldest of its kind in the Great Barrier Reef.

400-year-old 'Muga dhambi' is one of the largest and oldest corals in the Great Barrier Reef

By Harry Baker published

Australian researchers have discovered the widest, and quite possibly the oldest, coral colony in the Great Barrier Reef, which they have named "Muga dhambi."

The mysteries red jelly may be a new species previously unknown to science, NOAA researchers say.

Mysterious blood-red jellyfish may be rare species unknown to science, researchers say

By Brandon Specktor published

NOAA researchers spotted a mysterious, blood-red jellyfish deep off the New England coast. It may be a new species unknown to science.

An elusive whalefish was spotted 6,600 feet (2,013 meters) deep offshore of Monterey Bay, California.

Shape-shifting fish that confounded scientists for 100 years spotted off California coast

By Ben Turner published

The metamorphoses the creature undergoes are so dramatic, it took scientists a century to figure out its different forms belonged to the same zoological family.